TVNZ OnDemand in Demand

May 10, 2020 16 Comments

TVNZ Sales reports “huge increases” in both reach and streams during the COVID-19 lockdowns, with more people coming to the platform and spending more time on it.

“More viewers have adopted live streaming of our linear channels across all endpoints, with 25-34 year-olds delivering the most additional reach each week.”

Here are the latest TVNZ Sales dispatches:

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Channels, Digital

16 Responses to “TVNZ OnDemand in Demand”


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     May 10, 2020 at 11:59 pm

    Philip, any word on when TVNZ’s late news will return? It’s been off air for weeks while Newshub has been running its late bulletin continuously during the Covid crisis.

  2. Philip May 11, 2020 at 8:39 am

    Thanks for the reminder, Leo. I suspect TVNZ 1 implemented the late-night Seven Sharp repeat to save money at a time of the night when viewership is low, anyway, so it could divert resources into its off-peak COVID-19 press conferences, which at one stage were running twice-daily. I haven’t seen the ratings for the Seven Sharp repeat but chances are if they match the 1 News Tonight viewership, it could become a post-COVID fixture.

  3. May 11, 2020 at 9:11 am

    I actually quite like TVNZ on Demand but I think of the New Zealand ones Lightbox is my favourite 🙂

  4. Philip May 11, 2020 at 9:19 am

    Yes, it’s a good service, Trevor, but is starting to run out of programming puff. TVNZ OnDemand is excellent but I think Neon has shown the biggest improvement over the past six months, with Sky pumping a lot more programming into the platform. Will be fascinating to see if the merger of Neon and Lightbox can more effectively compete with Netflix. Personally, I think anyone who subscribes to Sky’s entertainment and sports packages should get Neon free as a value-added extra. While it’s great to see more exclusive content on Neon, it’s wrong to make SoHo subscribers wait longer for the same content. And if any of the NZ services are serious about competing with Netflix, they need to upgrade their video and audio specs to 4K and Dolby Atmos.

  5. May 11, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    I really hope they don’t axe their late bulletin and follow the trend by the Aussie commercial networks who did away with theirs for many years until recently with 7 and 9 reinstating them. I find it interesting that TVNZ chose not air Tonight but is in a stronger financial position to keep it on air than its rival MediaWorks, whose future is uncertain with this downturn.

  6. Philip May 12, 2020 at 7:07 am

    Good news, Leo. TVNZ’s confirmed to me that 1 News Tonight will resume. “We’ll have 1 News Tonight and Fair Go back soon,” a spokeswoman says. “Both of these teams have been redeployed to support the other bulletins during alert levels 3 and 4 – with the daily press conferences and other breaking news, we needed a little more manpower.” Hope to update this further with how Seven Sharp has rated late-night.

  7. May 12, 2020 at 9:29 am

    As I get Lightbox for free with Spark I wonder if I will have to pay for Neon? I have got Sky as well but only have the starters package and Sky Sport, oh well, interesting times. I’m still waiting for my Xbox One X to arrive from Spark because of NZ Post, HURRY UP PEOPLE. I hope they heard that 🙂

  8. Philip May 12, 2020 at 10:34 am

    I imagine, Trevor, that Lightbox subscribers will get the new service free of charge at least for the first six months. Or Spark may use it as a means of retaining or attracting customers by bundling it with broadband, fibre, mobile etc.

  9. May 12, 2020 at 3:28 pm

    That sounds good Philip. It can’t be too far away before we have some news about it unless it’s been delayed because of the coronavirus 🙂

  10. May 13, 2020 at 9:37 pm

    Fantastic news, Philip. Thanks for the heads up. In regards to TVNZ OnDemand, do you think it will secure HBO Max content after it signed a deal with Foxtel in Australia last week quashing any suggestions it would launch in that market or is Sky’s Neon poised to secure that deal? Hopefully TVNZ secures more Hulu content if they lose out on the HBO Max content. One can only beg that Three Now gets some new content.

  11. Philip May 14, 2020 at 2:45 pm

    Hey, Leo. I imagine Sky will continue to be first cab off the rank for HBO programming. Our market’s too small for a heavyweight like HBO to offer direct-to-consumer content when the likes of Sky is desperate to shore up exclusive acquisitions and will pay over the odds for a library as valuable as the cable giant’s. Sky already has multi-year licensing of HBO fare but who knows — with the merger of Neon and Lightbox, and more streaming of HBO programming, we could end up with a Neon Max!

  12. May 14, 2020 at 4:00 pm

    I hope Hulu comes to New Zealand next year, it seems logical having Disney+ here 🙂

  13. Philip May 14, 2020 at 4:29 pm

    Late last year that seemed likely, Trevor, but that was pre-COVID. In an earnings call this month, CEO Bob Chapek said “Long term, we’re still bullish about Hulu international. Right now though, given the cash situation and the sort of uncertainty around our overall business, we’ve got no plans immediately to make any investment in that business internationally. But that again is in short term only because of the COVID situation that we’re faced with.” A further sign of Hulu’s expansion delay was it giving Amazon Prime Video rights to the Hulu original series Little Fires Everywhere in Europe, Latin America, Canada and Australia, beginning May 22.

  14. May 14, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    In the long term there is still a chance Hulu will come to New Zealand, I live in hope 🙂

  15. May 19, 2020 at 10:38 pm

    Fair enough, Philip. It looks certain to go to Neon, one does hope TVNZ OnDemand has an outside chance and nabs the rights or the very least a few key shows (ie Gossip Girl or Legendary).

  16. Philip May 20, 2020 at 6:53 am

    Thanks, Leo. TVNZ would have acquired the the likes of Gossip Girl through its output deal with Warner Bros TV whereas HBO, while being part of the same corporate stable, operates as a separate entity.

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